Ichigo has to go to the dentist and Rukia comes to check up on him. Hopped up on laughing gas, Ichigo starts to say some pretty weird things. R&R please!

Don't Gas, Don't Tell

Rukia was making her rounds around town when she spotted Chad standing outside a building. She went over to him. "Hey, Chad."

He looked down. "Oh, hi."

She looked around. "Why are you standing out here like this?"

Chad gestured to the building he was standing in front of. "I had to take Ichigo to the dentist today. His family couldn't do it."

"Couldn't he just walk himself? It's not very far."

"He had to get some work done on his teeth and needed an escort home when they were finished."

"An escort? Why?"

Chad was about to answer when the door behind him opened and a tall man with a white coat came out. "He's ready for you now. We're all done."

Chad nodded and followed the man in, discreetly holding the door open for Rukia to squeeze through. Not being in her gigai meant that no one could see her. They followed the man to a room in the back with a number 4 written on the door.

"He's in here." The dentist opened the door and looked inside. "Hmm…"

"What is it?" Chad asked.

The man turned around. "He's still pretty out of it. We had to give him nitrous oxide before the procedure."

"Nitrous oxide?"

"Laughing gas."

Rukia managed to squeeze her way in before the dentist closed the door. She heard him ask Chad to help him with some paperwork and walk away. She turned back into the room.

It looked like a dentist office alright, complete with posters of teeth, a tray of tools and models of different kinds of teeth on the counters. In the center of the room was a chair. And in that chair, slumped over, was Ichigo. He still had the dentist bib tied around his neck stained with different colored liquids. His eyes were closed, slightly reclined back with his arms dangling at his sides.

Rukia approached. She listened to him breathe. It looked like he was merely asleep. The only difference was that he wasn't snoring like he usually did. She pulled up a padded stool and sat down looking around the room, taking glances back at Ichigo every now and again.

After a few moments, Ichigo started to come around. He opened his eyes. They were blurry and unfocused. He didn't seem to be aware of where he was just yet.

He felt strange. He had a tingling sensation in his arms and legs. It was like a vibration in his limbs. He also felt as if he were floating. He felt this way a few minutes ago, too. The sudden feeling of sleepiness and a euphoric feeling spread throughout his body. He still felt a little of that, but he was slightly more alert. He turned his attention up to the ceiling and smiled at the many colors and pretty lights. He felt so happy.

"Ichigo?" Rukia moved closer to him.

He turned and gave her a wide grin. "Rukia..! Hi..!" He started giggling.

So this is the effects of laughing gas, she thought to herself. Ichigo was rather funny under its influence. He was giddy and overly happy. Hell, he was downright loopy!

Ichigo looked slowly around the room for the third time, a loopy grin still plastered on his face. A tower of white paper cups caught his attention and he started giggling, apparently finding them very amusing. Rukia started laughing herself. Ichigo was just too funny like this. Ichigo turned his attention to her again. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing," she shook her head.

He smiled and gazed up at the lights overhead. He waved at them in a friendly way, smiling like a fool. He looked away, his eyes following something she couldn't see. He tried grabbing them, but failed. He pouted looking at his hand sadly. "Spots fly away…"

"Huh?"

He held up his hand. "I can't catch the floating spots. They're all blue and green and pink and yellow."

"Oh, you mean the spots in your eyes from looking at the lights." She figured it out quickly and smiled. "They're playful, huh?"

Ichigo slumped in his seat. "Wee..!"

She burst out laughing again. Ichigo was definitely more fun this way. She decided to play with him a little more, never knowing when the next opportunity will come along. "So, do you like that chair?"

He slid down on the plastic cover, stopping when his eyes could barely see over the arms. "Uh-huh."

"How are you feeling?"

He clawed his way back up, nearly falling over the arm of the chair. "Wee!" He started laughing again.

"Feeling pretty good, huh?" Rukia laughed.

"Yup!" Ichigo fell back into the chair with a thump. "I feel great! This room's so pretty."

"What else is pretty?"

Ichigo gave the room a good look around. "Um… that thingy." He pointed to a poster of a cartoon tooth brushing itself with a smile.

"Uh-huh. Anything else?"

"Hmm…" He pointed to a tray of tools. "That's nice, too."

She smiled. This was way too much fun. "Anything else pretty you like in this room?"

He turned around in his chair, facing her. "You."

Her smile went away. "Wh… what?"

Ichigo smiled stupidly at her, leaning in close to her face. "You. You're pretty, too. I like you lots."

"Uh… oh. Ok." No big deal. It was still the gas talking, right? Yes, the gas. Ichigo was still hopped up on laughing gas. He didn't know what he was saying. He probably didn't even recognize her. After all, this was the same guy who just a moment ago tried to catch the spots in his eyes with his bare hands.

"Rukia."

"Hm?"

Ichigo's smile was gone, giving her a serious look. "I love you."

She was frozen.

"H- huh?" She backed away from the dentist chair, never expecting this. "What do you mean you love me? Where'd that come from?"

Ichigo blinked. "I really like you. You make me feel so happy inside. Like I'm in a dream I never want to wake up from. You've done so much for me and helped me. I like that. You're nice. And pretty, too. Rukia… I love you."

She stared at him in disbelief. How could this really be true? Ichigo just confessed that he loved her? How was this even possible? Ichigo couldn't know what he was saying. Could he? No, of course not. What was she thinking? And yet…

Ichigo reached out and stroked her cheek tenderly. She looked up, seeing his complacent expression. He looked like a man in love. He really did love her, didn't he? He was just unable to confess it until now. The gas allowed him a free pass to confess how he truly felt inside, all his hidden emotions, everything. Ichigo was free to tell her the truth.

The door opened and in came Chad along with the dentist. "He's free to go. Just make sure he has plenty of rest. He might still be a little groggy from the Nitrous Oxide. Just take him home and let him sleep it off. He might have a bit of a headache when he wakes up."

"Thank you." Chad walked over to the chair and held a hand out for Ichigo. "Come on, let's get you home."

Ichigo reached out and took Chad's hand, pulling himself up out of the chair. His legs wobbled and gave out under him. "Whoops!" He laughed, landing on the tiled floor on his knees. He still didn't feel any pain.

The dentist sighed, smiling at his patient. "Yes, we may have given him a little more than necessary to numb the pain. In a small dose, he could still feel what we were doing, so…"

Ichigo was laughing too hard to stand up. He was doubled over on the floor, holding onto Chad's hand with his left and holding his own knee with the other. At this rate, they'd never get out of here.

Chad bent down and scooped Ichigo up and over his shoulder. He carried Ichigo like a sack out the door, thanking then dentist again. Rukia followed after them.

Normally Ichigo would have been so embarrassed to be seen in public being carried in such an undignified manner, but thanks to the gas still affecting him, he treated it like a game. He didn't mind at all. "Giddy up, horsey!" he'd call out, pointing in some random direction and then made strange sound effects like gunfire and explosions.

Rukia followed close behind, still thinking about what Ichigo had said to her in the dentist chair. Did he really mean that? He had to. He must have. No one could lie while under the influences of laughing gas, right?

Ichigo poked Chad in the back. "Chady, I love you."

Then again… Maybe Rukia had nothing to worry about at all.

When they finally got him home, they marched him straight up to bed, tucking him in. At first, he complained, claiming that he wanted to play a game with them. But as soon as he was tucked into a warm, soft bed, he quickly gave up on that idea. He was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

Chad and Rukia left him, walking back down the stairs. They passed Yuzu in the hall. Rukia kept qiet while Chad told her that her brother was safely in bed and that everything was fine.

She breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, good. And I'm sorry for anything Ichigo may have said to you. He gets so out of it whenever he has to be gassed. The last time he took a hit off of it, he thought that dad was a cow and that we were floating in space. He also had this crazy idea that he was a fish. I'm sorry. He just gets so weird when they knock him out. He kept telling Karin how much he loved her on the way home. He even told that to everyone we passed by, even guys!"

Rukia sighed. Apparently, she had nothing to worry about after all. He probably didn't mean a word of that so-called confession.

X

When Ichigo finally woke up, his head felt awful. "Oh, for the love of God!" He rolled over, balling into himself on the bed. He had the mother of all headaches. He hid under his pillow.

He felt Kon climb up and sit on his shoulder. "What's the matter with you?" his voice rang in Ichigo's ears, amplified by the headache.

He moaned and tucked into an even tighter ball. "I have a headache… It's all because of that gas they gave me. It hurts like hell so keep your voice down."

Kon sat quietly before asking in a soft whisper, "Do you remember anything you did?"

Ichigo thought. "I don't really remember… But I did have a strange dream about Rukia."

"Oh?" He was interested now.

"Yeah. I dreamt that she came to see me in the dentist office. It's all fuzzy… I can't really remember what happened or what I said."

Kon moved away. "You're boring."

"I can't help that! It was a dream brought on by the drugs!" He held his head again. "Ow..!"

He didn't want to tell Kon, but he could have sworn that he told Rukia that he loved her. But it was just a dream, right? Only a dream.

But a very nice dream he didn't want to wake up from.

Thanks for reading.

I wanted to keep it short and I was caught between two different endings. I went with this one because the other one would have led to a two-shot and I wanted to keep it a one-shot.

Did you like it? Please review! ^^